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3 things in the deep blue sea

We have explored much about what lies above us but not to a very much extent about what lies beneath us, especially in the ocean floor. At times, it is puzzling as we look out for the origin of the universe and every related science and correspond it with the space and the inexplicable black holes, but what serves as the substratum of our lives is quite forgotten much than what it deserves.

This is quite a plausible argument when we don’t have a concrete theory about the origin of our universe. Why the extra terrestrial is connected with those astronomical sciences and creation and why not the terrestrial?

This could be a possible reason that it holds troves of mysteries and exciting information with it. Seventy-one percent of our planet’s surface is covered by water, which forms 97 percent of its water resources.

This vast expanse of water body has not been explored very much. But to the lesser extent of exploration, it has given us too much incredible information about the past and they are really interesting. As some of the information they provide us are exciting and inspire us with awe, a few facts can take us for a shock for the potential threat they pose for our future.

Below we would see a few of such marvels that could grab all our attention at times that can be shocking.

The Lost Kingdom of Cleopatra

Cleopatra, a very popular figure as she is romanticized for beauty and art, was one of the famous rulers and believed to be the last Pharaoh of Egypt. She is the also the last emperor of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Her kingdom was completely surrounded and engulfed by water and is found off the shores of Alexandria, Egypt during the underwater archaeological expeditions led by a French man, Franck Goddio recently in 1998. The whole kingdom was lost 1600 years ago beneath the water as a result of natural disasters like earthquake and tsunami.

Many artifacts of the then period have been discovered that are of great value in the modern times including coins, statues, foundation of palaces etc. They are representing the legacy and memories of a once glorious civilization in the serenity and silence of the deep blue ocean.

An underground museum is planned to be constructed at this deep sea location by the government that is still pending, awaiting funds.

North America-Eurasia Continental Drift

The tectonic plates of North America and Eurasia are moving apart by 2 cm every year and this is quite clearly visible with a deep dive in the crevices of Silfra near Thingvellir area, Iceland. Due to this tectonic plate shift, this area suffers some serious forms of earthquakes, quite often.

Even though it is a geographical incident that the tectonic plates move away from each other, this crack or crevice is a splendid experience for scuba drivers with crystal clear water and canyons on either side, swimming between two continents.

This takes us to the reality that the world as we know have never been the same and ever will be because of such continental shifts. Even there is a prediction by the scientists on how the landscape of earth would be changed after 250 million years from now.

5 trillion pieces of plastic

That is the number of plastic pieces that can be counted if you are set on a mission to enumerate the number of plastic pieces in the depths of the world’s oceans. Further if you want to weigh them, it will count up to 268,000 tonnes. They were neither bought by any continental drift nor were the remnants of Cleopatra’s lost empire.

Filtering them out from the oceans has been ruled out as an impossible task by Simon Boxall, Lecturer, Oceanography at the University of Southampton. The risks are much increased when these plastic substances enter our food chain. The best possible way to contain this threat is to reduce and recycle, says Boxall and nothing can be done to drastically improve the current scenario.

Most of the found plastic items are bottles and bags used and thrown away, which makes us responsible for what is going to happen to our earth in the future.

Even as it is less understood by us, the land below us including both terrestrial and aquatic are very exciting to know about and are very crucial for sustaining life on earth.